Walpole, NH dairy farm story in today’s Boston Globe

Now that NPR’s Kitchen Window series has come to its bittersweet conclusion, I’ve found myself once again with a little more time for local food reporting. My first foray back on the beat took me an hour north to New Hampshire, where I spent the afternoon at a dairy farm owned by a family that’s lived and worked there for 200 years.

The realities of small farming being what they are, the family has diversified into cheese and small-batch ‘switchel’ vodka. Never heard of switchel? It’s a traditional farmhand drink also known as “haymaker’s punch” – and unique to New England.

Food reporting is a little more involved than cookbook reviewing, but I enjoyed learning about switchel – not to mention sampling it after – and seeing some less-well-known corners of the region. More food-beat-cop work to come.